Tuesday, December 23, 2014

EXTRA: No wonder Rahm wants Willie off the mayoral ballot

There’s
a Catholic school affiliated with St. Florian parish in the Hegewisch
neighborhood that has been struggling with its finances to avoid being closed.

Now,
it seems one of the mayoral hopefuls has a desire to be the person who ensures the
school stays open.

THE
CANDIDATE IS Willie Wilson, an African-American man who has managed to work his
way to a fortune and likes to make charitable contributions to causes he deems
worthy. Which is totally within his right to do so.

So,
according to the Times of Northwest Indiana newspaper, Wilson planned to visit
St. Florian Tuesday night with a $5,000 check – the amount that their
fundraising drive fell short of the desired goal.

The
school was among those slated by the Archdiocese last year to be closed, with
church officials citing declining enrollment causing shortfalls in funding. The
school remains open because local residents have worked aggressively to raise
money to cover the budgetary shortfall.

This
year, the goal was to raise $60,000, with the Big Shoulders Fund kicking in
$25,000 and local efforts coming up with about $30,000.

WILSON
WAS TO show up at the school Tuesday night with a personal check to make up the
difference.

But
Wilson also is one of the nine people who are trying to run for mayor in the
Feb. 24 elections. Is this the kind of move meant to build goodwill that might
actually persuade some of those Hegewisch residents to get off their duffs come
Election Day and cast ballots for Willie?

It
certainly can’t hurt!

Anyone
who has been paying attention knows the Wilson name because he is one of the
candidates who is having his ballot slot challenged. Most of those candidates are
truly fringe who have next to no shot of getting more than 1 percent of the vote.

BUT
WILSON, WHO began his business ventures by running McDonald’s franchises on the
South Side and expanding into more substantial efforts throughout the years,
differs because he has the kind of money to self-fund a serious campaign – if he
so wishes.

If
you want to believe that Wilson is too much of a no-name to take seriously,
consider that Bruce Rauner was equally a political nobody before he started
kicking in the dozens of millions of dollars to buy himself just the right
image that enabled him to win the governor’s elections held last month.

Could
Wilson become the African-American equivalent of Rauner? Not if Emanuel’s
political loyalists are capable of kicking him off the ballot.

Now
I’m not implying there’s anything illegal about Wilson’s contribution. It’s his
money, and I’m sure there’s no specific agreement that people will be required
to vote for him in exchange for the contribution.

BUT
YOU HAVE to admit, that’s a lot of goodwill that will be stirred up from
Hegewisch residents to whom the thought of sending their kids to Washington
School (in the Chicago Public School system) is absolutely abhorrent!

Which
could also make it some of the most practically-spent money of this campaign
cycle.

I am a Chicago-area freelance writer who has reported on various political and legal beats. I wrote "Hispanic" issues columns for United Press International, observed up close the Statehouse Scene in Springfield, Ill., the Cook County Board in Chicago and municipal government in places like Calumet City, Ill., and Gary, Ind. For a time, I also wrote about agriculture. Trust me when I say the symbolic stench of partisan politics (particularly when directed against people due to their ethnicity) is far nastier than any odor that could come from a farm animal.